ITC initial ruling finds Motorola infringing on Microsoft patent

The US International Trade Commission has issued its initial ruling favoring Microsoft in the patent feud with Motorola. The initial determination finds that Motorola’s Android products are infringing four claims of a Microsoft patent. However, a final review and ruling is still required to pass through the full Commission.

“We are pleased with the ITC’s initial determination finding Motorola violated four claims of a Microsoft patent,” said Microsoft in a statement today. “As Samsung, HTC, Acer and other companies have recognized, respecting others’ intellectual property through licensing is the right path forward.”

This latest ruling adds more pressure to Google’s Android platform and its partners, which have been besieged by patent suits. In a separate ITC ruling yesterday, HTC was slapped with a ban of of its Android devices due to violating an Apple patent. This patent, however, is a system level technology that could implicate the entire Android platform as a whole.